Line 6 Variax 300

Normal features for a basic guitar. Quality a little above a budget guitar, but price's much higher. Good finish but, lets face it, the guitar is uggly. I would never buy it is it wasn't for what line6 annouced the guitar could do. Actually, I gave it a thought about buying one years ago, but the shape of the guitar has always make me give up.
Mine included power supply and cable.
I give it only 3 due to esthetic reasons.

The sounds are really awsome... when the guitar is not crackling, gargling and/or switching randomly between presets. Some say the problem is the hardware (connections) but some say is the software and electronics. After taking a peak into the line6 website user forum, I was sad to know that lots of users are having trouble with the electronics. I give 2 because the sounds are really close to the real thing. Otherwise I would give it 1

Everything was in good condition and ready to use. The action was fairly good, close to the neck, as I like it. Nothing to say here. The hardware of the guitar is flawless (tuners, neck, body, bridge).

The hardware looks good enough to last for centuries. The guitar is solid and the tuners are ok. And if you want to upgrade the tuners, it's not that difficult or expensive.
The bridge, due to the piezos, needs to be handled carefully, specially when changing the strings (do not let the curly top of the old string pass through the saddle - it can damage the piezo for good).
But the electronics... as I said before, the guitar sounds are very close to the real thing in all presets... but only when the guitar is not crackling, gargling and/or switching randomly between presets. It doen's happen all the time, but at least happens once everytime you turn it on and at a random moment. Due to this, I would never use it on a live gig because you never know when the guitar is going to go noisy.
Since lots of users are having trouble with this, I wonder what line6 was thinking about when they released the model. Ok, the guitar is less expensive than the other line 6 models, but even so, is expensive when compared with other budget guitars with a close quality on hardware and finish. Being less expensive is not an excuse for not functioning properly.

In the line6 website they throw some tips at you and that's all, since there's practicly no customer support in Europe.

I play guitar since I was 12 and electric guitar since I was 18. I have 40 now. I've owned several different kind of electric guitars during the years, from budget to medium guitars (never got a really expensive one because I serious believe they are not worth the price).

This one seemed a perfect guitar. Playable and with a lot of different sounds to explore and enjoy.

I used to play at home and 90% of the time works perfectly. But once in a while the guitar starts going crazzy, crackling, gargling and changing presets (imagine you're playing acustic live and suddenly it changes to 12 strings electric and then to les paul bridge and then to tele neck...)

Basic Variax 300 in black, rosewood fingerboard, 22-frets and so on. You know what this thing is. I would have liked the trem, but was on a budget so I stuck with the hardtail. Came with a strap which was worthless and a little external power supply box and stereo cable (for the power) which is a pain to use but beats chewing through 9v batteries all the time.

This guitar is all about the sounds - that's why you buy them. And the sounds are pretty damn good. Not perfect for sure, but pretty good all the same. My main guitar is a Strat I've had for 20-some odd years, fitted with SD pickups and it blows this away sound-wise - but this thing has variety. I can flick a switch and make it sound like a 335 or a Ricky - something my Strat can never do. The acoustic sounds are also pretty good. Again, they're not totally convincing, but they're not too bad.

I use this guitar purely for recording. On one song I wanted a 335-kinda sound for the solo - done, and it sound pretty close. A friend of mine was scornful of these guitars. I recording a couple minutes of me noodling around on one the acoustic sounds (with a splash of reverb over the top) and sent it to him. He was very impressed and wondered when I'd got a new acoustic. Told him it was a Variax and he became quite unhappy with me :-)

These sounds will not fool die-hard tone-heads, but for the 99+% of your audience, they'll do the job just fine.

This is not a well made or well set up guitar. The strings were crap beyond belief and the tuners slip slowly out of tune constantly. When you pick up and play this for the first time, it feels cheap - it feels like a $150 guitar, which is pretty much what it is - the extra $$$ is for the electronics. I would almost certainly gut this guitar and drop the bits into a new body and neck, but I'm far to cheap and lazy to do that. Truth is I use it occasionally for recording so I'm not that bothered.

Well, it hasn't screwed up on me yet. But there is no way I would use this live without somne form of backup - I just don't trust it. Not sure how well it will survive the test of time, but I don't fancy it's chances of lasting 20+ years like my Fender. And of course, if the insides do die, the rest is just a hunk of cheap wood with no future other than the nearest bonfire. A real electric always has a future... somewhere...

Never called them.

I only use this guitar for recording - giving me access to a wider range of sounds. I use a Line6 Toneport so my sounds are already digital - so the sonic defeciencies of this guitar become less obvious. Through a really nice amp and played well, this guitar may disappoint, but it works fine for how I use it.

Would I buy another? At $300, hell yes - but I'd rather get the elctronics (for maybe $150??) as a drop-in kit and use it on a decent quality guitar.

The Variax I purchased was a standard Red Variax. You know the features. It is nothing really notable

I play in a Church Praise Team, We play anything from Traditional to Rock so I needed a guitar that would be capable of everything from Acoustic Tones to a heavily distorted Les Paul. When I first Purchased the 300 I was not toally satisfied with the tones. Most of them sounded like a guitar but not specifically what they were supposed to sound like. However I was able to get a really good tone from most of the settings by tweeking the amp.

I purchased a Line 6 Pod XT Live a few months after and was very satisfied. The most important aspect is the powering through the Variax Cable. But the Tones that you are able to get using this combo is great. You really have to play with the two of them for a long time to get the tone but once you get it worked out it is very easy to tweek the tones to get exactly what you need.

My favorite part of the Variax was the fact that no noise comes out of the thing while you are not playing. no buzz. This is better than any humbucker. I did not play my semi-hollow for a few months after playing this and I substuted my semi and was shocked at how noisy it was. (same with my strat).

Another nice feature is that if you play with teh Variax workbench software a while you can get sounds that you would never dream of. By de-tuning through software I have very beliveable bass tones, Mandalin sounds etc.

The set up was acutally good from the factory. The action was sweet, intonation perfect. THe prbolem came when I changed the strings. (De-Addario' 12s or Fender Bullet 11's sound great everything else seems to mess with the modeling a bit. But once I changed back to the De-Addario's it sounds great again.

The only flaw that I found was that the battery compartment on the back will not close all the way when batteries are in it. But I can totally look past that.

About 6 months after playing it first the High E-String Pickup Cut out. Line 6 will tell you that this is a known problem from the factory. Everything seems solid. I have been playing it for over a year now and it still seems new to me.

Strap Buttons seemed a bit odd in that the cheap strap that I had would not stay buttoned. I switched with a strap lock on the top and Have had no problems at all now.

I use it for Live playing bi weekly and I do not have a backup I totally trust the guitar.

There was one version of firmware that I had installed that seemed to be a problem with switching the tones by itself. But the newer firmware does not seem to have that problem.

I did have to deal with Line 6 Customer service and they were frendly they told me exactly how to get it fixed. When my pickup died they told me to take it along with my reciept to the local repair shop and tehy would fix it. They Told me that it would take 5 ~6 weeks which really disapointed me. But when I got the local shop the guy told me that he could fix it within an Hour. So I waited with him and watched him fix it. I had the Guitar back together in 20 mins. (note this was my local shop and This guy was great I am sure that not all of them are like this)

This is a great guitar. It is not going to fool the local tone junkies right away but with the proper tone modeling it could.

I would only suggest buying this guitar with a Pod XT Live or X3 Live
It needs that extra tone modeling power enless you have a museum full of vintage amps.

I would totally buy another Variax if this one was stolen. I think I would go with one with a Tremelo however just because my playing style has changed.

I have played several guitars over the years. Anything from Vintiage Fender Jaguars to Gibson 335s to a wide range of acoustics. This one (along with the XT Live) is my favorite guitar to play. It does not quite have the feel of a good guitar but it has the tone (After hours of tweeking).

I bought this guitar 2006. I liked the various sounds it was able to produce, I like the look, especially the absence of pick ups. Finish is okay but nothing special. Best of it is the electronis and the variations it allows - at least as long as it works.

Most of the sounds are very useful, even the acoustic ones. The ability to create own sounds with the workbench is great. Not important for me, but alternate tunings only sound good when up-/down-tuning a small amount, especially on the higher strings (g, b, e). What I like best is the absolute absence of unwanted noise - you only hear what you play.

Set-up and finish of the hardware is okay. As the electronics is very important at this guitar it belongs IMHO also to this point. And electronics the weak point of this guitar: As long as it works it's okay, but if not... see next point. Because without electronics this guitar is of no use my rating is that bad.

Hardware is okay and I never had problems with it - that's the good part.
Electronics is crap:
The model selecting knob after some month began changing models by himself during playing, no way to end this behaviour. Therfore it is not useable for live playing.
Firmware upgrades only seem to work with special MIDI-connectors and even then only work sometimes. Two month ago I once again tried an upgrade and it ended up with a guitar producing no more sound - since then I'm trying to get a solution from Line6 support.
Simply said: No, you can't depend on it, I even wouldn't use it on a gig WITH backup.

Line6 support doesn't seem to exist, at least in EU. When reading Line6-forums it seems that a lot of Variax owners have similiar problems with electronics like me but besides the usual more or less helpfull hints from other users Line6 doesn't seem to be able to produce corrections of their buggy software and firmeware. For example: Firmware upgrade of variax (in my configuration via Vetta amp) functions that way, that a PC-program (monkey) connects via MIDI-port and Vetta to the Variax. Line6 states that this works only with a few MIDI-connectors. Why? The whole music industry communicates via MIDI with every existing MIDI-connector without problems, only Line6 doesn't? And even when using the recommended MIDI-connectors most of the times you must try the upgrade process a few times until it really works. Tried this with a few PC's, connectors and cables - everywhere the same ****. And the only answer Line6 is able to give is "You should send it to repair". If they would pay it - okay, but they don't.

I'm playing guitar since about 30 years. Two years ago I bought a Variax and a Vetta and sold everything but a Strat as backup. As long as this combination worked I never wanted anything else, it sounded good, it played well and I liked it. But because of the unreliability of the Variax I now am pretty disappointed. Because of this and the not existing Line6 support I never would by a Line6 instument again.

Black Variax 300 - if you don't know the details, check the web (or the reviews below). Looks-wise it's absolutely unique. The Variax top has a lovely "clean" look to it with the absence of pickups. I'm seriously tempted to do a bit of artwork on the top, because all that uninterrupted space would be just perfect for it.

The guitar itself seems well-made. Hardware is relatively cheap, but significantly better than Squiers or similar - think basic-seriesStrat, for example. I suspect it was set up by the shop (Digital Village), and the setup was absolutely spot-on. A few buzzes with the light strings it came with, but restringing with 11s (my preferred option) fixed that.

The matt-finish neck isn't quite as nice as the gloss neck on the Variax 600, and it doesn't feel quite as smooth. There's hardly anything in it though - certainly it's as good as yer average Fender neck, and much better than Yamahas, Squiers and other low-end stuff I've played.

No gig-bag which was a bit of a bummer, but you can't really complain at the price. Anyway, I bought a hard-case for it, so I wouldn't have used the gig-bag anyway.

I'm not too impressed with the XPS Mini power box that comes with it, which lets you power the guitar using a (supplied) stereo lead. It's a good idea, but the box is quite flimsy plastic, and there's no retaining clip for the power supply cable off the (supplied) wall-wart. This does create some risk of losing sound during a gig if you accidentally boot the XPS Mini.

I also got the Workbench. This is 100% vital if you're getting a Variax - make sure you include the cost of this in your calculations. See later for more.

How does the guitar sound plugged in? Pretty damn good, actually! It really is designed to be heard through an amp though - you can hear it in the tone of the guitars, especially the acoustic models. I wouldn't be tempted to DI straight out of the Variax into the PA. It's worth noting that the 300, 600 and 700 sound identical, so don't waste your money on a 600 unless you need the trem.

The Tele sound is far and away the most believable - I can recreate "Run to you", Springsteen or Status Quo dead easily. Generally though they all sound pretty good. The weakest electric patch for me is the LP Junior which sounds a bit lifeless, but I don't know whether that's how it really sounds. The Special sound is rather nice too. And although the 12-string Rickenbacker models aren't perfect, they're convincing enough to use for "Hotel California" or anywhere else where a 6-string sound (even with chorus) doesn't quite cut it.

The weakest sounds are the acoustics. They seem not to be modelled after acoustics as they actually sound (or as they're picked up from a microphone), but rather as acoustics sound with cheap-and-nasty piezo pickups through a cheap preamp! The only acoustic model worth using is the dread - the others are pretty ropey. The F212 in particular isn't even close.

The resonators are a bit better. The Tricone ain't perfect, but a bit of EQ livens it up OK. But I was disappointed to find the Dobro model was some strange aluminium-body version, instead of the wood-body one everyone would have preferred. The sitar is an absolute stand-out though - it really sounds perfect for "Paint it black" or Beatles numbers. And the idea to make the tone control set how much sympathetic resonance you get is a complete masterstroke, so you can move smoothly from a fairly clean electric sound to a full swooshing sitar sound or anything in betweeen.

One problem with the default setup is that the levels change between guitar models. OK, this represents pickup/body behaviour accurately, but it makes life harder when you're trying to find the right sound and you have to keep tweaking the gain/volume on your amp or FX. If you've got the Workbench then you can do what I did, which is to adjust everything to the same level, but it can be annoying.

Which leads me onto Workbench, which is fantastic. You could almost say that if you can't find the guitar sound you want with the options it gives you, you aren't looking hard enough. Once you start changing things at this level, you're usually not looking to reproduce a particular guitar but rather find the sound you want for a particular song, and chances are that if it's an electric sound then you can probably find it. It's a shame that you can't use the models from the acoustic Variax on the electric - that's one big change I'd like to see. Actually, better acoustic models in general would be an improvement. But I'd rather have seen a classical model instead of the banjo, for instance.

The pitch-shifting works very well for small shifts. Don't be tempted to detune the whole thing by an octave and use it as a bass though - it produces the right notes, but it just doesn't sound the same without a bass's fatter strings. I was disappointed to find that you couldn't change the tuning on the 12-string models in Workbench though - all other models let you change the base tuning, but the 12-string models only let you change the relative pitch of the secondary strings. If you're pitch-shifting, you need your amp loud enough to mask the guitar's acoustic sound, but this isn't usually a problem.

Absolutely spot-on. I do suspect though that this was a setup done by Digital Village, not as shipped by Line6.

I don't see there being any problems with the guitar. My only worry is with the floor-box power supply, but I can live with that.

Not needed it.

I'm generally keen on finding the right tone for the song, rather than using a "standard" tone on everything. So I use a Korg multi-FX already to get loads of different sounds, and just put it through the amp on clean. The Variax is just a natural extension of this.

Ratings-wise, it's got to be a 10, really. There's nothing else like it, and especially not when you can't even buy a basic road-series Fender or Gibson for that price. If it gets broken or stolen, I'll buy another immediately.

You are aware of the features, Jack of all trades, master of none.

Mine started life as a black one.

The electronics on this are the whole reason you want one. They are worth it.

My 10 is specifically because it has TONS of features. It's loaded with sounds.

As others have said, the sounds are really nice. I have plenty of guitars to compare this to, and to me, the differences between the original and the Variax sounds are much like the differences between different identical guitars. They're different, but it's pretty slight. All the sounds are very usable on stage, and they shine in recordings.

Not a huge fan of the 12 string sounds, but the alt tunings are really nice. LOVE the workbench. Really nice to experiment with.

Here's where I really wasn't happy. It felt like a really poor guitar. The neck was shimmed with plastic, the nut was "funny" and the frets were rough. I have purchased a few cheapo guitars (my fave is the Squier '51) and this one was not a well made cheapo guitar. I would recommend a different factory, this one is rough.

HOWEVER, I yanked the electronics (Really not hard to do at all) and dropped them into a Warmoth Black Korina Body and a Warmoth Pro neck. Set it up right, and plugged it in. It felt as good as it played. This is how the thing was meant to be. Honestly, I think it sounded better with the Warmoth parts (it's illogical because it's a computer and maintains the sound digitally, but maybe it's happier with me in its new home...)

My rating is based on the way it was out of box...

As it was, it would have worked, but it just didn't feel good. I wouldn't want to play it for hours, it just never hit my heart. With the body change it became one of my go to axes.

The original body and neck is now sitting on a shelf in my shop. Someday it will make a nice doorstop or something...

The bridge and the electonics are constructed very well and I have no doubts that they will last for a while. The solders were very clean on the circuit board, and there was no slop or runners on it.

My rating is an average of the highs of the electronics, and the lows of the body and neck

I have had a few interactions with Line6, and to quote the American Idol judges, "I'm a Fan". They have always been fair with me and pretty fast.

I've been playing for 30 years and I own a lot of the gear many people drool over (The benefit of giving up on that dream of being a pro guitarist, and focusing on Computer Science is that I can afford what I want now.)

My guitars are mostly tweaked to the 10s, I play mostly assembled Warmoths or USA Customs, My off the shelf guitars mostly have just the label in common with their original counterparts.

I play Keeley modded effects, a Teese wah, and tweaked tube amps including Ceriatone, Fender, Hoffman and homebuilts.

I have played most every type of music, and currently play with a cover band that covers everything from metal to country to jazz. This puppy covers everything really well. Well enough to generate complements from my band and from the crowd.

Do yourself a favor, buy one on eBay for a cheap price, and drop it into a Warmoth body. Buy a neck that meets your desires, and you'll have spent $700 on a guitar that sounds like many much more expensive guitars. I love mine in its current form, and plan on making one more...

I really only wish that Line6 had the option to buy the electronics outright. The doorstop that they shipped them in is too pricey.

Made in Indonesia, 22 frets medium frets, 1 volume and tone, 1 model selection knob, 5-way selector switch, 2 outputs (standard 1/4" and Line 6 VDI). You can go to Line6.com for detals on the models and such. In terms of value for the money, it's very high. If you have a POD XT Live or Vetta, you can get extra power from saving guitars with effects patches, which is a very nice option. Also, you can use Workbench though the Vetta or XTL without the separate interface. As someone who has to use a lot of different tunings often, having the ability to save tunings and not have to change guitars is absolutely imparative.

Um, I was surprised. It sounds great. I don't own all the actual guitar, but I can tell you it does sound like the ones I do own (LP and Strat). Many of the sounds are very usable and accurate enough. Sure, they are not perfect, but if you need total versatlity, it'll do very nicely.

I got mine used on eBay. I had to change the strings and do the standard neck adjustments and lower the action a bit. Small buzzes here and there, but they are not audible amplified. It plays much better that advertised.

Seems pretty solid. I'll get a backup just because I only own one. If it holds up like my POD XTL, it'll be a winner.

I was unsure I wanted to go the whole way into digital modelling. I've used a POD XT Live for a while now, and it's been great. Once I started to mess around with the Variax and all the possibilities especially in tandem with the XTL, I was blown away. Again, if you're one of those analog snobs, don't bother. I play in a contemporary church where I need to accomodate vocalists with different ranges, changing keys, and varying styles often. For players with these needs, I can't think of a better value-for-the-money modern tool than a Variax. Again, the models are not perfect, but they will do more than well enough to get through almost any situation.

The basic Variax, made in China to a high standard. Cant expect much finesse for the price especially as I got $200 off as red ones don't sell as well - I think it's fine. The neck isn't very comfortable around the nut - too thin, not enough to anchor on to. Have played it regularly for about 6 months and no problems with anything yet

Would prefer to have paid more for a solid metal floor power box rather than the dodgy looking plastic one. The stereo lead supplied crapped out quickly so got a decent one.

They've done a pretty good job of capturing the essence of most of the 30 or so models/tunings it comes with. BUT, it's like the difference between a high resolution photograph - perfect in every detail - and the same scene in real life. The guitar just doesn't have quite the presence that the real things have. Presumably that can be modelled, if you know what the magic element is, so maybe later generations will nail it. Having said that, it's now my main performance guitar because we cover anything that rocks from 60s to the present, and the slight compromise on 'presence' is outweighed by the huge sound palette.

I find the main thing about good tone is that it inspires the player to play better. Few in the audience are even aware of individual instruments most of the time and just respond to the band's overall sound. So by approximating a wide variety of guitars, your're more likely to impress an audience than using the world's best-ever Strat to try and cover everything - it just doesn't inspire as much when you really need an acoustic sound (try Black Horse and a Cherry Tree on a Strat ansd you won't enjoy playing the song) or say an Eb Les Paul for Guns n Roses.

Working against this inspiration though is the psychological difficulty you face in playing a cheap feeling/looking guitar and imagining what you're supposed to be playing! Buying the 900 would partly solve this, and I think the price of that is still very good value.


The ones I use most are Tele (position 4), Strat (2 and 5), Les Paul (1-3), Special (1-3: these are my favourites), Gretsch (3 and 5), Ricky (3and 5) Acoustic (3 and 5), Custom - Les Paul detuned to Eb (for Guns & Roses etc), tunings (open E, open A)

Very good for the price. No flaws apart from the lead. Just cheap looking.

So far so good. Always take at least one other guitar to a gig as it's still unproven

Dunno

Been playing 45 years,since teenage bands in Liverpool in the 60s. I had settled on a Twin, Strats and Tele, with a decent rack of pedals. I now use the Variax for its variety, and settle for the imprefect sound and the completely wrong feel for playing.

Got this Variax through CraigsList before they got cheap (and apparently got a bit cheap in the manufacturing process too). It came with the good foot pedal/power supply that has an XLR output as well as the standard 1/4" jack. The body is jet black ... and very nicely finished too. He had a Peavey hard case that fits perfectly and all the cables too ... more than comes with the $300 ones sold in the stores or Musician's Friend.

What surprised me was how good it sounds when recorded. Not only does it give you all the classic sounds they talk about, things like the relative volume of the guitars is realistic too. EG: If you play the Strat sound then click to a Les Paul, the volume jumps up about the amount a LP is louder than a Strat. And the fact that response and playability are exactly like a "real" guitar ... down to pick scratches and hand muting and string noise. All of it is precisely like playing a "normal" guitar.

The things you can do using the computer Workbench are WAY beyond what I originally expected. I'd thought that I was pretty much getting just guitar sounds and would have to drop the bottom string for "Drop D" tuning and such basic stuff. NOT! With the workbench, I built EVERY odd tuning I've ever tried, even a "split guitar" with the bottom three strings an octave down for playing bass along with the upper strings in normal tuning ... amazing for a jazzer or a good finger/pick player! You want a Baritone guitar? Click the switch. Open D or open G or open pick your chord? No problem!

So that's why this has become my favorite guitar. I can play ANY part in a recording session without even re-tuning the thing!

When I bought it, the previous owner had it set up pretty well. Just the right string height and neck relief. I just feels like a well finished Strat ... but with NO pickups to get in the way of your fingers or buzz next to a light dimmer or a computer monitor!

The only tweak I did was to lift the bottom fret a tad on the bass side to prevent a bit of buzzing on loud strokes. All it took was a slight lift with a knife blade and a bead of Crazy Glue and it's been perfect for more than a year now, probably forever.

This particular guitar seems very solid. I find that the tuning stays rock solid for days at a time, so the tuners and neck must be solid too. The only possible concern might be the fact that if the true computer inside went on the fritz, it'd be like having your hard drive crash in a computer. ALL sound is created instantly inside the body, including all the stuff you created with the Workbench and saved ... body styles, pickup choices, tunings, etc. There's a lot more going on inside than any "normal" guitar. So if I was a guy making a living playing night after night, I'd either have another Variax ready as a backup, or another "ordinary" guitar to grab just in case.

The only thing that was strange was when I got the Workbench (off eBay). After the first experiments were successful, the guitar wouldn't talk to the computer the next time. I did several software re-installs, but still no dice. So I called their Service Dept guys and ... despite the fact that I hadn't bought either the guitar OR the Workbench from them (!!) they gave me all kinds of help. Still didn't work. So they actually SENT ME A REPLACEMENT Workbench (remember, it wasn't under warranty and I didn't buy it from them!).

You know what the problem was? Not their Workbench software or hardware ... it was the silly computer plug in the guitar! I'd bent one of the 6 or 8 contact wires so the thing didn't "see" the interface box! It took me exactly 2 minutes to fix it with a pair of tweezers! Wasn't a construction or software problem. It was a stupid bent wire that I had bent!

I'm an old fart who's been playing since the early 1960's (cut my teeth on The Ventures!). Over the years I've built up a collection of WAY too many guitars and keyboards, many of which are pretty classic axes, both electric and acoustic. I've got great PLAYING guitars of every description, fretted and fretless basses, several mandolins, a dobro, a lap steet, even a bouzouki from Ireland! I've repaired many instruments and amps and love the smell of solder. I've designed and created custom guitars in both acoustic and electric forms. So when I say that this Variax has become my favorite guitar ... to PLAY and to listen to while I play ... it might carry some weight.

These folks have come up with something that constantly changes the way I play and they've put it all together in a form that's what I'm used to holding, with NONE of the irritating things that you learn to live with ... like hummmmm when you stand the wrong direction in a room with dimmed lights or 2 feet from your computer when you're recording.

Replace it? Absolutely! It pisses me off now when I play one of my old classics and, after about 3 tunes, find I can't just flip a switch and lay a bass part down in my Boss looper or hear an amazing sitar on top of a mellow Les Paul bed in a mix.

They've got me hooked!

The other reviews will give you a full round down of the list of features but my impression, after playing the guitar for just one week, is that the general build quality for the money is merely average.
After having some problems with my 300 I had a look at the Variax 600 and my fingers were cut to bits by all frets that were sticking out the neck. The shop assistant thought that the wood in the neck may well have seasoned or shrunk after the frets had been added.
The first 3 Variax 300s I tried were all faulty. The first had no output whatsoever, the 2nd produced crackling noises on one of the pickup selector settings, the third also had an issue with the selector (it wouldn't re-select new guitars or tones without repeated jiggling) the fourth (touch wood) seems to be Ok.

This is why I persisted with this guitar... I would never in a million years put up with the aggravation of trying numerous faulty models without the killer feature of the variax which know to be the instant access to its broad sound palette.

What impressed me about having all the sounds so quickly available to me was the tunes, licks etc that I was inspired to have a go at that I wouldn't normally touch. On the banjo setting I found myself learning dualing banjos, on the sitar setting I was experimenting with new chords, weird scales of my own invention, I started playing Byrds licks on the twelve string settings etc etc.

I recently bought a Digitech JamMan phrase sampler and I was layering these different instrument sounds over each other and it was inspiring. I'm not a particularly good musician but the sound mix of all these instruments starting out with some basic chords has really motivated me to improve in all facets of musicianship.

I am a tad dissappointed by lack of effect that the tone knob has - I am aware that on some settings it is designed to have no effect but I found that even when it is supposed to be adjustable its effect seems almost negligible.

I would never get a Variax by mail order. In my opinion Line 6 has quality control issues. To try 5 of their guitars (4 300s and 1 600) and find only one that so far seems fully operational is a very poor ratio. Maybe I have just been very unlucky.

Due to the problems I have encountered so far with the Variax range I would never take this guitar to a gig without a backup. For me, it's worth lies in recording, practice and general musical exploration. For the latter, it excels.

I have heard good things about Line 6 customer support but have had no direct experience myself.

In music, I crave variety. I hate the thought of being limited to one style, one genre, one sound etc so the Variax suits me. I also dislike having too much gear - amps, effects etc. I am primarily an acoustic guitarist but have recently picked up the electric again after a long abstinence.

As previously mention this guitar is tool to explore musical possibilities. I have so far got an enormous amount out of it and it has resulted me being able to scratch up some interesting stringed instrument arrangements. I have also found it a useful practice instrument for learning guitar in the various styles when a particular guitar type is associated with that style e.g. Gretsch - rockabilly etc.

If I were a professional musician I wouldn't use a variax as a replacement for the real thing. Certainly, don't thing for a moment that you will never need an accoustic guitar because the Variax has it modelled - there is no real comparison.

I'm so far glad I persisted with the Variax and I certainly would replace it - but I'd only buy a 300 series. Ideally I would like the Variax system in a better guitar. I would like to see a collaboration between Variax and a reputable guitar maker to produce a quality, reliable instrument. That I would cough up extra for.